Documents & Reports

Aceh conflict monitoring update (January - February 2008) (English)

Abstract

The situation in Aceh remains on the whole safe and stable. However, the rising levels of violence recorded since December of last year, including a number of incidents involving or targeting KPA, show that enduring peace is not yet assured. On March ...
See More +The situation in Aceh remains on the whole safe and stable. However, the rising levels of violence recorded since December of last year, including a number of incidents involving or targeting KPA, show that enduring peace is not yet assured. On March 1st, five were brutally murdered in an attack on the Atu Lintang KPA office, in Aceh Tengah. This is the largest loss of life in a single conflict incident recorded since the Helsinki MoU. The massacre sparked widespread concern that it could lead to escalation and a worsening of communal tensions in the ethnically heterogeneous central highlands. Authorities, security forces and KPA have all helped to contain potential spillovers, and the peace process appears to have proved strong enough to survive its most serious blow so far. The incident occurred against a backdrop of heightened political tensions, with the reappearance of old moves to partition Aceh by creating two new provinces, ALA and ABAS. The issue shows how, while key provisions of the MoU and the Law on Governing Aceh (LoGA) are not fully agreed upon or implemented, room remains for opportunistic elites to seek advantage and for tensions to rise. Overall levels of violence remained high in January, and reached a new peak in February, with 30 violent cases.
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